cover image Sustenance

Sustenance

Elizabeth Wassell. Liberties (Dufour, dist.), $22.95 trade paper (242p) ISBN 978-1-907593-30-7

Raised in New York by an "emotional tyrant" of a mother and a timid father, Lily Murphy%E2%80%94a restaurant critic and long-time American expatriate living in Dublin%E2%80%94found solace in meals and conversations at the Russian Tea Room with her Russian grandfather, a former dancer.%C2%A0 After instructing her to use her exotic beauty to advance in the world, her grandfather pulls some strings and gets her into an elite English boarding school.%C2%A0Using her curiously foreign looks, Lily ingratiates herself with the upper crust%E2%80%94though never quite manages to fit in%E2%80%94and eventually becomes a respected restaurant critic.%C2%A0 Her editors send her on an Irish sojourn in order to explore the growing restaurant scene in Dublin, where she meets rising celebrity chef Nicholas Savage, who guards his troubled Belfast childhood with as much tenacity as she protects hers. Over time%E2%80%94and plenty of food%E2%80%94Nicholas and Lily begin to reveal their secrets to one another, falling in love along the way. When she is called back to New York on account of her mother's illness, Lily must come to terms with her family's past in order to set her sights on a future with Nicholas. Wassell's newest (after Dangerous Pity) is a delicate exploration of the relationships between food and culture, men and women, children and their parents, and Europe and America.%C2%A0 Like a fine dining experience, this story can be savored in small bites and enjoyed for its subtlety rather than a driving, complex plot.%C2%A0(Feb.)